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In May 2018, Students Supporting Israel at UCLA put on a club lecture featuring Jewish, Kurdish and Armenian people presenting their connection to their lands. Watch how Students for Justice in Palestine menaced and threatens the presenters and attendees, vandalized their personal property, and maliciously took-over the event.

To avenge SJP's busting-up SSI's "Indigenous Peoples United" Event at UCLA in May, leaders of Students Supporting Israel infiltrated the highly-guarded Students for Justice in Palestine conference - to unfurl an Israeli flag on-stage. Rudy Rochman, founder of Coumbia Univ's "Students Supporting Israel" counters "Students for Justice in Palestine" convention at UCLA the obvious history that Jews living in Judea can't be considered occupying as they are the INDIGENOUS people of Judea.

Watch Part 2 of interview exclusive with Rudy Rochman, which his group garnered more than 100,000 views with on Facebook.

We interview the other avenger, Ilan Sinelnikov, National President of Students Supporting Israel

IDF "Reservists on Duty" Yair Eliash stands outside anti-Israel SJP (Students for Justice in Palestine) National Convention seeking dialogue, public or private, to address the differences between what each side sees first-hand.

North Americans are now fighting in common cause with European Jewry against Leftist anti-Semitism cloaked in anti-Israelism, particularly noticeable on-campuses.

Israeli decision makers and thought leaders came together on October 22, 2018 for the launch of Limmud Israel in partnership with the Jewish Federations of North America’s "General Assembly."

Staff for Limmud Israel poses with Eli Ovits, CEO, at Tel Aviv event

The first ever Limmud Israel event was held at Tel Aviv's Brodt Center for Jewish Culture. An array of Israeli thought leaders and decision makers in politics, media, finance, high tech, and culture offered their visions on the shared destiny of the Jewish people."This launch of Limmud Israel is a momentous event for the Jewish people, convening participants from across the country together with communal leaders from across North America,” said Limmud Israel event chair and president of the Am Yisrael Foundation, Jay Shultz.Each talk revolved around the broad concept of "The Shared Destiny of the Jewish People" and include a Q&A session with the audience. Most of the audience members were Anglo-Israeli citizens, at a greater proportion of dati'im than attending the General Assembly.

“Heartfelt thanks to our partners,” said Limmud chief executive Eli Ovits. “We call on visionary organizations and individuals to join us in order to enable Limmud to reach a new level of impact across Israel.”

Contemporary, gentrification debates unlock the early history, stories and memories of Boyle Heights revealing the mythical and human dimensions of L.A.’s own Lower East Side during the premiere run of an audience participatory, immersive and theatrical celebration, created and devised by Josefina López, Corky Dominguez and the Remembering Boyle Heights ensemble.

Josefina López, producer and co-writer of the Remembering Boyle Heights said, “The show is a theatrical celebration inspired by the diverse stories, memories and experiences of Boyle Heights, an Ellis Island of the West, from the beginning of the century to right after World War II. The show explores this time-period during which Mexican, Jewish, Japanese, Armenian, Italian, Russian and African-American communities co-existed in Boyle Heights.”

From the turn of the 20th century until World War II, Boyle Heights served as the hub of Southern California's Jewish community. Kosher delis, bakeries and other Jewish businesses dominated Brooklyn Avenue -- now Cesar Chavez Avenue. In the 1950s, the Eastside neighborhood's Jewish population began to decline, with many leaving for West Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley. ("Event unearths the deep Jewish roots of Boyle Heights" - by Hector Becerra Los Angeles Times May 2018).

Under the direction Corky Dominguez (of Boyle Heights), who is also a
co-writer of the show, the Ensemble Cast will include: Michael Berckart (of Los Angeles), Joe Luis Cedillo (of El Monte), José Alejandro Hernandez Jr. (of South Central), Yvette Karla Herrera (of Montebello), Ángel Michel Juárez (of Montebello), Megumi Kabe (of Sylmar), Marcel Licera (of Koreatown), Jackie Marriott (of Inglewood), Roberta H. Martínez (of Pasadena), Allyson Taylor (of Valley Glen) and Raymond Watanga (of Glendale).Video transcript: Urban anthropologist, Shmuel Gonzales: "Boyle Heights for many people has been kind of equated to the Lower East Side of New York. A lot of people who had come from New York or the Midwest or Canada who already had established themselves a little bit came to establish their families here.
I think that's what's really just remarkable is how many families that came through Boyle Heights. Seventy-five thousand Jewish families came through Boyle Heights in the first half of the 20th century. One-third of the Jewish community of Los Angeles was located here in Boyle Heights, making it the largest and most important Jewish community west of Chicago.

Breed Street Shul (photo: Henry Briceno)

"Congregation Talmud Torah, more commonly known as the Breed Street Shul, was a keystone in the Jewish community in Boyle Heights and nearby City Terrace from the 1920s through the 1950s. Architecturally, it was among the most monumental of the few dozen synagogues that were built in the area at the time, leading locals to nickname it "The Queen of the Shuls." Los Angeles Conservancy

Allyson Taylor, actress, in role of real-estate developer: "I want to modernize this neighborhood."As herself: "Well (the show) talks
about the fact that in Boyle Heights - all
people live together. During the 1930's
and '40s, during the restrictive era of
housing, not only were Hispanics, blacks, and Chinese restricted from buying homes
in Los Angeles, Jews were as well."(Scene of early 20th century Jewish family, portrayed by Allyson Taylor and Micael Berckart, of son, portrayed by Jose Hernandez, Jr.) disavowing speaking Yiddish).Jose Hernandez, Jr. actor: "The dynamics of the
family with the father, the son, I have found it very natural and very
similar to my experience with my father - it's the same argument."(Scene of 20th century Latino family of daughter (portrayed by Yvette Karla Herrera) chiding parents for not speaking English).(Scene of daughter (portrayed by Angel Juarez, telling Japanese mother (Megumi Kabe) about boyfriend she brought home (portrayed by Raymond Watanga). Angel Juarez: "I love him! I know that he's Colored."Angel Juarez: "I didn't realize
that there was a Jewish community (ever in my Boyle Heights). I used... there is a store and it has the
Jewish Star, the Star of David and I always
wondered why - why was it just there - out of
nowhere? And when I came here I realized
that this used to be a Jewish community! So it just opened my mind to a whole, a new world of Boyle Heights"Marcel Licera, actor: "Faith and religion took place in
Boyle Heights. Whether it took place in a church, in a temple or
synagogue, or just in the home."Corky Dominguez: "My experience
attending a Seder, I lived with the
Jewish family for several years. I
brought my mom to it to the one of the
Seder dinners. And it was really
interesting to me and I knew that I
wanted to have something like that story
of a Seder and the guests being non-Jewish and to see what that was all
about. Because I remembered that
experience."Raymond Watanga: "Mt. Carmel Missionary
Baptist Church spiritual gatherings with African-Americans for many weeks while Mama and I went to our first Passover
Seder that my friend Josh Bernstein
invited. It was dinner at the Bernstein's - a Jewish dinner!"Allyson Taylor: "This is my favorite holiday it's about
celebrating our collective freedom." (Recites bracha for Yom Tov.)

(Photo: UCLA's Mapping Jewish L.A.)

Allyson Taylor: "So what we're doing is celebrating the
fact that with all the issues of
gentrification and the encroachment of
the hipsters, and the developers coming
into this area, that there was a time
when we all lived together and we're
hoping that we can bring that kind of
feeling back. And not have the kind of
tensions that are or have arisen from
saying this belongs to me, this belongs
to me, it belongs to all of us!"Micael Berckhart: "Everybody went to Canters. Lined with pickle barrels, kosher butchers, bakeries, and delicatessen. The aromas were of corn beef and smoked fish, the smells, the tastes, the sounds of accents of Eastern European accents in Yiddish, the whole feeling was a visceral experience."Corky Dominguez: "We end the
show with Hava Nagila at our curtain call. And that just gets the crowd going! Right now the show is scheduled to go until Sunday, December 16th."

Students for Justice in Palestine demonstrate at
Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland in 2016
(photo: University Times)

The Islamo-Leftist political movement won a victory in overcoming Los Angeles civic and Jewish objections to University of California at Los Angeles ("UCLA") hosting Students for Justice in Palestine's the National Conference.

L.A. City Councilman Paul Koretz and the L.A. City Council appealed to UCLA Chancellor Gene Block to decline hosting the NSJP Conference. Block claimed in a press release he was legally obliged to. However, UCLA denied conservative author, Milo Yianopolous a venue on the same campus. Councilman Koretz explains his perspective in this video interview.

In May 2018, Students Supporting Israel at UCLA put on a club lecture featuring Jewish, Kurdish and Armenian people presenting their connection to their lands. Watch how Students for Justice in Palestine menaced and threatens the presenters and attendees, vandalized their personal property, and maliciously took-over the event.

Mr. Ali Adi, an Arab-Israeli citizen flew to UCLA with Reservists on Duty to contest the SJP conference and present his favorable life experience as a Muslim-Israeli to those who will listen. He expresses his view of the SJP movement and their leftist JVP colleagues exploiting Palestinians for political gain.

An attempt to chronicle the SJP conference check-in was rebuffed by JVP's Estee Chandler and a representative from SJP. A request for a spokesperson to discuss the conference was declined.

Christian-Israeli, Jonathan Elkhoury, explains his experience of Israel as free and just - in contradiction to the national convention of (Muslim) "Students for Justice in Palestine" who advocate overthrow of the Judeo-Christian oasis in the Middle East - at Univ of California at Los Angeles, Friday Nov 16, 2018.

Miri Shepher, Board of Directors of the Israeli-American Council said that Israelis like her came down to party with SSI and show support for Jewish presence on campus.

Rudy Rochman, founder of Coumbia Univ's "Students Supporting Israel" counters "Students for Justice in Palestine" convention at UCLA the obvious history that Jews living in Judea can't be considered occupying as they are the INDIGENOUS people of Judea.

To avenge SJP's busting-up SSI's "Indigenous Peoples United" Event at UCLA in May, leaders of Students Supporting Israel infiltrated the highly-guarded Students for Justice in Palestine conference - to unfurl an Israeli flag on-stage. We interviewed the other avenger, Ilan Sinelnikov, National President of Students Supporting Israel.

Mr. Ali Adi, a Muslim-Israeli disputes the intentions and claims of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) outside the opening of their 2018 National Convention at University of Southern California (U.C.L.A.) Nov. 16, 2018.

Arab-Muslim, Ali Adi, came to UCLA to present an impression about Israel's free society for Muslims (and other minorities) in contrast to the Far-Left/Islamist activist convention of S.J.P. being held on the UCLA campus. Mr. Ali Adi was the guest of the Univ of Calif club, Students Supporting Israel, who have been menaced in the past year by the anti-Israel activist, Students for "Justice" in Palestine on California campuses.

Islamo-Leftist activists have garnered power by scapegoating "colonial Zionists" for impeding Palestinian sovereignty. The global exposure of Palestinian "sufferage" at Israel's hand (typically provoked (or faked) by kleptocrat, Palestinian politicians) vilifies Jews all around the world. Anti-Israelism is so strong in liberal Ireland, for example, that their capital city which once elected a Jewish man Mayor of Dublin, that much of Ireland's Jewish population preceded France's Jews in emigrating from Europe. North Americans are now fighting in common cause with European Jewry against Leftist anti-Semitism cloaked in anti-Israelism, particularly noticeable on-campuses.

Hebron Community spokesman (retired), David Wilder, showed JooTube the Jewish perspective of Hebron. He shows us the synagogue built atop the Cave of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs, explains how the Jews keep this area safe for Jews and Christians to worship, and shows us the contentious conditions the Muslim impose upon Judeo-Christian worshippers.

(Step through the video playlist menu from the upper left corner)The Hebron Fund offers English speakers an opportunity to experience this unique Shabbat with trained tour guides and a chance to hobnob with political celebrities like law professor Eugene Kontorovich of the Kohelet Policy Forum. Shabbat Hebron has humble beginnings in the 1990s and today has grown to thousands with last year's weekend breaking the record at 35,000 people. The highlight of course is the Tomb of Machpela complex, built 2,000 years ago by King Herod the Great to house the Cave of the Matriarchs & Patriarchs.
The atmosphere of Shabbat Hebron is both festive and with a sense of purpose. Tents dot the lawn across the the Cave of the Patriarchs as people camp out and picnic for Shabbat. Of course the reading of Parshat Chayei Sarah takes on a greater significance, as one stands in the Tomb of Machpela while hearing of our Abraham purchased the site as a final resting place for his beloved wife Sarah. After Shabbat, the festive scene continues as music fills the streets from BBQs. Special tours that take place during the weekend are the Hall of Isaac and Rebecca, a section of the Machpela complex that includes the actual entrance into the underground double cave. Tours of the historic casbah and Tomb of Otniel Ben Knaz will also take place.
The Hebron Fund will be again sponsoring a special program for English speakers.

by Rabbi Jonathan Sacksin Algemeiner Oct 30, 2018The language of the Torah is, in Erich Auerbach’s famous phrase, “fraught with background.” Behind the events that are openly told are shadowy stories left for us to decipher. Hidden beneath the surface of Parshat Chayei Sarah, for example, is another story, alluded to only in a series of hints. There are three clues in the text.

The first occurs when Abraham’s servant is returning with the woman who is to become Isaac’s wife. As Rebecca sees Isaac in the distance, we are told that he is “coming from the way of Be’er-laĥai-ro’i” (24:62) to meditate in the field. The placement is surprising. Thus far we have situated the patriarchal family at Be’ersheva, to which Abraham returns after the binding of Isaac, and Hebron, where Sarah dies and is buried. What is this third location, Be’er-laĥai-ro’i, and what is its significance?

The second is the extraordinary final stage of Abraham’s life. In chapter after chapter we read of the love and faithfulness Abraham and Sarah had for one another. Together they embarked on a long journey to an unknown destination. Together, they stood against the idolatry of their time. Twice, Sarah saved Abraham’s life by pretending to be his sister. They hoped and prayed for a child and endured the long years of childlessness until Isaac was born. Then Sarah’s life draws to a close. She dies. Abraham mourns and weeps for her and buys a cave in which she is buried, and he is to be buried beside her. We then expect to read that Abraham lived out the rest of his years alone before being placed beside “Sarah his wife” (Gen. 25:10) in the “Cave of Machhpelah” (Gen. 25:9).

Unexpectedly, however, once Isaac is married, Abraham marries a woman named Keturah and has six children by her. We are told nothing else about this woman, and the significance of the episode is unclear. The Torah does not include mere incidental details. We have no idea, for example, what Abraham looked like. We do not even know the name of the servant he sent to find a wife for Isaac. Tradition tells us that it was Eliezer, but the Torah itself does not. What then is the significance of Abraham’s second marriage and how is it related to the rest of the narrative?

The third clue to the hidden story is revealed in the Torah’s description of Abraham’s death:

And Abraham expired, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years, and was gathered to his people. Isaac and Ishmael, his sons, buried him in the Cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, which is before Mamre, the field which Abraham purchased of the children of Het. There was Abraham buried, and Sarah his wife. (Gen. 25:8–10)

Mr. Sohail Raza reveals that anti-Semitism is a pervasive bigotry in Muslim culture which imperils treatment of Jews (and Christians) in the Middle East and globally.

For the benefit of Jewish and Christian education, Pakistani-Canadian, Mr. Sohail Raza of Muslim-reformist group, "Muslims Facing Tomorrow" reveals how Jew-hatred is inculcated through Muslim culture (even in the West). Mr. Raza encourages Muslims to acknowledge and reform what their religious leaders and media distort as demagoguery.

Transcript of interview (below) with Mr. Sohail Raza:

Daniel, Ruth, and Prof. Judea Pearl

Q: Most Americans are not aware that the son of UCLA Professor Judea Pearl, Daniel Pearl, the Wall Street Journal journalist who went looking for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in Pakistan.
Were they helped, was al-Qaeda helped by the ISI?A: Absolutely yes, and that is the sad part. The mullah, the clerics, the mullah and military alliance. The ISI is also disunited in a certain way that the official version means maybe something different, but there are splinter groups that definitely help terrorist organizations because they used them in Afghanistan and they used them in Kashmir.

Daniel Pearl and Khalid Sheikh Muhammed

So it is to their advantage to keep them happy and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was one of them- and Danny Pearl did an excellent job in investigating. Actually he went with a friend of mine, Asra Nomani, also from The Wall Street Journal, a Pakistani, and they did a terrific investigation into Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and eventually it ended up in not very pleasant circumstances.

Q: Why in your view did they behead Daniel Pearl?
A: The first reason is because he was a Jew - and the supposed animosity between Judaism and Islam which does not exist - even in the Quran it does not exist - and the sooner the two work together the better it is will be for the peace in the world - that is the one reason because he was Jewish because he was American and they wanted to make a statement - and they did.
Q: You started off claiming that they killed him because he was a Jew but the Quran preaches otherwise but what's the wider held belief towards Jews in the Muslim world?
A: The wider held belief is that of total ignorance. A person who's spouting hate against Jews in Israel- I can bet you anything he doesn't even know where in the map Israelis or what is the history of the Jews. It comes through total ignorance this animosity and it plays into the hands of Muslim politicians whether in the Arab world or in Pakistan or Malaysia or Indonesia. It plays into the hands because that is the supposed enemy - and it is very easy to build a hysteria and a mob against Israel or the Jews.
Q: So President Trump has declared that he's cutting support to Pakistan. Hasn’t Pakistan been one of the primary benefactors of American foreign aid over the past 20 years?
A: Yes, and one of the better words to describe Pakistan would be a “frenemy”- a friendly enemy. So Pakistan has always played a double game- it has taken aid from the United States of America to build its military. But on the other hand, it is also in the game of appeasing terrorists or terrorist organizations to play its own politics vis a vis India and Afghanistan and Iran to a certain extent.
Q: Who is Dr. A.Q. Khan? Answer: A.Q Khan is the father of the nuclear program in Pakistan. He stole nuclear secrets from the Netherlands and went about to Pakistan to develop a nuclear bomb. And a lot of people don't know that when we talk about North Korea and we talk about the nuclear program in Iran, it is A.Q. Khan that has sold nuclear secrets to both North Korea and Iran. Q: Hasn’t it been referred to as the “Islamic bomb” that originated in Pakistan - where did he spread it within the Muslim world?
A: Well he wanted to spread it more into Libya, into Saudi Arabia but he was stopped and brought in to check. Now he is considerably restrained but the damage has already been done.
Q: Israel just revealed that they were responsible for destroying the Syrian nuclear reactor. If they hadn't and that reactor in Syria had fallen into ISIS' hands or nuclear materials, what would the prospects for nuclear terrorism have been?
A: Yes, when you talk about Isis you are talking about a totally mad and evil existence of a group of people so your imagination, my imagination, or the viewers’ imagination can be as drastic as possible as to what would have happened if this scenario would have materialized. It would have been complete chaos because you must understand that organizations like Isis revere death. Whereas we the people who have some sanity, revere life and that's the difference. So they would have had no qualms into dropping an atomic device on civilian population on children women, etc., so it would have been a complete disaster - a doomsday scenario.
Q: How prevalent is the jihadist - and by that I mean a political global Islamist mentality - how prevalent is that within Pakistanis and other area or subcontinent Muslims within the West today?
A: Well I personally, although it has grown substantially, this ideology has taken 40 years to gain strength. It's a result of a turf war between Iran and Saudi Arabia and it has come in to the west by immigrant population from various countries. But my personal view is that we have reached the pivotal point. We have reached the height of jihadist mentality. I think the general Muslim population is sick of it now - they want the children to get a decent education, for them to learn decent earn a decent livelihood, and all these idiots that emerged in Miami and San Bernardino and New York etc, are being looked down upon rather than looked up to as heroes- they are villains and the Muslim population is realizing it and the sooner they realize the reverse can start happening.
Q: I can recognize what you're saying is true about about violent jihadism, but how about political Islamism? Is that still a force within the West, and I say the UK for instance and the US and Canada?
A: Yes, Dr. Daniel Pipes said it beautifully he said it's our duty now to save the United States, Canada, and Australia. He seems to think that Europe is already a gone conclusion. Yes, the jihadist mentality reigns over there. It is deep-rooted, it is very harmful to living with other ethnicities, co-workers, neighbors. It's a dangerous trend and that's the nonviolent extremism and that has to be brought into check by the government. It's incumbent on them to take a serious note of this and this is a deep-rooted ideology which is exported by the Muslim Brotherhood which, in collaboration with the regime in Iran, is exporting this ideology into the West. So, on the one hand people are getting sick of it, on the other hand it's creeping in at a faster pace than the governments can take a check of it.
Q: What sort of activism do you do in your family?
A: In my family, we have a policy of the 3 E’s: Expose, educate, and then empower people to eradicate this problem.

Sohail and Raheel Raza in Israel (photo: Aish Toronto)

So we set up forums, we set up exhibitions to expose this. And we've been to the governments in Canada, we've been in the United States. My wife, Raheel Raza, is instrumental in educating the police departments, Defense Departments, and the government at large- to advise them that you have to do something not about the violent extremism, but the non-violent extremism as well.
Q: What kind of personal threats do you face from the Islamist establishment?
A: Well first of all they try to negate our message by saying ‘they are not even Muslims’ and when they fail to to achieve that and then they resort to more direct threats. But if you are scared of these threats and pack it up, then you've lost if you even. If you're even intimidated by these threats you've already lost. So that is not something we even consider. Q: Are you in competition essentially with … to the authorities with Islamist or pro-Islamist advocacy groups?A: Yes of course. Organizations like C.A.I.R. the Council for American Islamic Relations is the problem and we want to make it very clear they are not part of this is the solution. They claim to represent Muslims but they represent only the wrong kind of Muslims. And they are the villains in this day and age in the United States. And they have a sister concern in Canada which is just as worrisome.
Q: How do you feel about the monitoring of mosques in the West?A: The monitoring of mosques?
Q: Because currently the FBI doesn't do that. For a long time they haven't done that. Is it time to monitor what's going on in the mosques?
A: I have no problem with that if the mosques have something to hide then they will try and stop you from monitoring them.
If the mosques are really a place of worship… that they are only there for spiritual reasons to worship God, then what is there to hide? If there's no political messaging out there then why be scared of anybody monitoring them? I would welcome- the mosque that I go to - if people come and watch what is happening there. Because I myself raise alarm bells if the message is not spiritual but political.
Q: How can people follow your work? If they'd like to keep in touch and see, look and learn from you?A: We have a website www.muslimsfacingtomorrow. You can always give go there leave your comments and follow what we are doing. And you can contact me my name is Sohail Raza. Just one word of caution that once the Wahhabi message is brought under control we still have to worry about Iran and the Muslim Brotherhood and I think Western governments should declare the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist entity that will put more pressure on Iran to and lack of other words behave uh-huh would you support the u.s. making a preemptive strike or Israel making a preemptive strike against Iran's potential nuclear weapons it's very difficult to answer that because a strike was made in Iraq Iraq is a completely different country Iran has its own infrastructure and it will be rather difficult to make such a strike but I think what needs to be done is for Western governments to encourage putting down this murderous regime in Iran by empowering people of Iran as what they were doing a few months ago then it died down is to come up and face the challenges and get rid of this regime.

The U.S. pullout from the nuclear deal with Iran triggered a European desertion of that country that is threatening its regime’s survival, President Donald Trump said.

Trump spoke about the issue Thursday during a Rosh Hashanah phone call with rabbis and Jewish leaders (play audio above). Taking part in the 20-minute call were his son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner; U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman; the attorney and law professor Alan Dershowitz; and former U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman of Minnesota.

Trump did not invite questions from listeners, although Coleman and Dershowitz both asked questions.

Regarding Rosh Hashanah, Trump said: “I send my warmest wishes to the Jewish people in the United States and around the world as we approach the High Holy Days. I want to express my deep admiration and gratitude for the extraordinary contributions of the Jewish people to the United States and to the world.”

Over the centuries, he said, “The Jewish people have suffered unthinkable persecution, yet you have not only endured, you have thrived and flourished as an example of humankind.”

His own “connection to Judaism is also personal,” Trump said. “I am the very proud father of a Jewish daughter, Ivanka, and my son-in-law, who I’m very proud of also — I will say that very loudly — Jared, and my several Jewish grandchildren, namely three beautiful Jewish grandchildren that I love.”

Israel set an annual record of (an estimated) 3.6 million tourists visiting her holy sites and sandy beaches in 2017. But this 70th anniversary of Israel's independence may exceed that. From January to June of 2018, about 2.1 million tourist entries were recorded - an increase of 19 percent over the same period in 2017 (1.74 million) and 26 percent more than in 2016.

The United States remains the largest source country for incoming tourists, with 470,200 tourist entries in 2018, 17% more than in 2017. More Canadians than ever are also traveling to Israel with a 14% visitor increase in 2018 compared to 2017. (Source: Travel Daily News Int'l.An estimated 2.9 million people entered Israel by air and 373,000 crossed over the land borders with Egypt and Jordan. Between January and November 2017,

Only about a fifth to a fourth of all tourists were Jewish, with the remainder comprised of other faiths or being non-affiliated. 54% of incoming tourists were Christian (a plurality of whom were Catholic, and 25% visiting as pilgrims).

The top five countries of origin for tourists to Israel were the US, Russia, France, Germany and the UK.

Jerusalem March of the Nations, 2014 (photo: Int'l Christian Embassy in Jerusalem)

Besides summertime, Jewish tourism increases around religious holidays, like Passover and the High Holidays season (Rosh Hashana through Simchat Torah). Many Christians visit for events around Sukkot, such as the annual March of the Nations (pictured above, courtesy ICEJ). But Israel's home airline, El Al also competes for business and secular travelers making their way to and from the Far East and Africa. We spoke with Yoram Elgrabli, who manages El Al's operations in The Americas, at Israeli Tourism Ministry's pavilion at the primarily Christian, NRB Proclaim Convention in Nashville. Mr. Elgrabli discusses the market and airline's improvements and expanded offerings for flyers.

Q: How much a part of Israeli tourism does Christian tourism comprise?

A: "So in terms of figures and number we are facing this year an extraordinary year. All what concerned, the traffic from North America to Israel this year, we will reach the number of six, or 700,000 Americans who go from Israel."

Q: Who goes from North America to Israel?

A: "I can say that about 30 percent of them are Christian evangelicals who are going to make a pilgrimage tour in Israel, and those numbers are growing more and more, day by day."

Q: How do people decide which airline they will fly? For instance, of the tour groups do you market to get the tour groups to choose El Al?

A: "Of course we have very good relations with the travel agents that their profession is the pilgrim market. We are in a very good contact with them and as for North America we are generating about 60% from the number of seats to Israel nonstop flight. We are operating from Toronto Canada we are operating from Los Angeles we started the operating from Miami, Miami, Boston, in New York - from both Newark AND JFK.
And as of November 18, we are going to open a new route from San Francisco - nonstop flight to Tel Aviv. "

El Al's North and Central American operations chief, Yoram Elgrabli at Israeli Tourism booth at Proclaim '18 in Nashville

Q: What's the connection between Israel and San Francisco / Silicon Valley?

A: "You are well aware that we call Israel today, there it has been branded "Start-up Nation." We we have a lot of engineers who work for Silicon Valley and we are there for them. We look forward to expanding our activity, too, in San Francisco. Both for Israelis to come to San Francisco and for sure for Israelis or American who come from San Francisco to do their business in Israel. "

Q: What sort of American high-tech companies have a presence in Israel?

A: "I think that every high-tech American company has a ever presence in Israel. You can call it Apple, their R&D - they are sitting in Herzliya. Intel, Google, Microsoft, Facebook - every every high-tech company thaty I the company that counts itself as a serious one - I think have a an office in Israel or a representative in Israel and I know that of course (how you call this company - okay, never mind). "

Q: For business travelers who are going towards the Middle East . . . many people because of the marketing of the Emirates or other Arab Airlines - but if someone is going beyond Israel, would El Al also be an option?

A: "El Al will be an option beyond Israel if you want to go to South Africa or maybe to the Far East. So we are operating to - Johannesburg, we are operating to Hong Kong, Beijing, Bombay, and Hong Kong - so these business travelers they have a high standard they expect a high standard in business class, for instance, even in coach."

Spacious, Premium Economy seating on El Al's Boeing 787 Dreamliners

Q: How does El Al compare with the competition of the American Airlines which are flying that direction or British Airways, for instance, for the business traveler?A: "So just to let you know that we started now to get our brand new Dreamliners! We have both made an acquisition of 16 Dreamliner with the addition for additional 13. We already have 4 in our fleet!
And every quarter, every trimester we are going to get another one and those Dreamliners are going to serve first - first of all the North America routes. "

"Today we are operating from New York on a daily basis with a Dreamliner. The Dreamliner is a state-of-the-art aircraft with a very Premium Class say that is, I think we have a nice and cozy Business Class. We have the only company from North America that is operating with this class . . . A state-of-the-art Entertainment System onboard ... and you know that Israeli service at the moment that you take your first step inside our aircraft, you can feel the Israeli ambience, the food, the service, and your journey to Israel starts actually at the moment that you place your first step in our aircraft." Q: "In the United States, security has become even more important. But around the world people are looking to Israel toward Israel as the example for keeping safe. What is special about flying EL AL in terms of security - in-flight security and traveling to the Middle East?"

A: "So with your permission, I won't elaborate on our security system, how we are working, or what is the level of security that we are using. But it's not a secret that our company has a very good reputation in all that's concerned to security. Our clients' safety and security is above all - and we don't make any compromises in this subject. This is the only thing that I can say."

Yoram Elgrabli praises outgoing US Tourism head, Uri Steinberg,
at a ceremony at the Israel Tourism Ministry's booth in Nashville

Q: "Is El Al participating in any global mileage clubs?

A: No, unfortunately not, we do not belong to any alliance, but we have a code-share with other airlines. Like in North America we are we have a code-share with JetBlue Airlines ... That you can get JetBlue, yes, from (I don't know whether from everywhere in North America, but almost every place every airport in North America) and connecting to our flights. And we have some other code-shares that we are using in Europe like Swiss, like Iberia, like other carriers - that allow us to operate from Tel Aviv to our hubs - and beyond."

Question: "How would Flyers find those flights where they find it through the EL AL site? Or would they go to one of the partners' and book it there with a partnership on El Al"

Answer: "It can be both! You can make it through the JetBlue, let's say, or you can buy it on our ticketing, or on Jet Blue's ticketing, or through another carrier's ticket. We have also a very important code-share with American Airlines that, eh, yeah. So we have we have a lot of variety variety of product that can serve our clients."

Question: "Which website can people reach-out to from English-speaking countries? What's the URL?

Answer: "So you can just click https://ELAL.com and you are welcome to surf and buy and to see all our product." Mr. Elgrabli, thank you so much. Congratulations on the Israeli nation's 70th anniversary. This should be a big year for El Al."
Visiting tourists spent an estimated N.I.Shekels 20 billion inside the country, according to a statement from the Tourism Ministry, and some 200,000 Israelis work in the industry. El Al will initiate regular non-stop service to and from San Francisco on Nov. 18, 2018.(Some info contributed from the Jerusalem Post's Max Schindler).

The Miracle of Jewish History - Israel President Weizmann's Speech at the Bundestag

President of Israel, Ezer Weizmann, gave a speech to both Houses of Parliament of Germany on January 16, 1996. He gave this speech in Hebrew to the Germans, fifty years after the Holocaust, and in it he beautifully summed up what Jewish history is. He said:

"It was fate that delivered me and my contemporaries into this great era when the Jews returned to re-establish their homeland ...

"I am no longer a wandering Jew who migrates from country to country, from exile to exile. But all Jews in every generation must regard themselves as if they had been there in previous generations, places and events. Therefore, I am still a wandering Jew but not along the far flung paths of the world. Now I migrate through the expanses of time from generation to generation down the paths of memory ...

"I was a slave in Egypt. I received the Torah on Mount Sinai. Together with Joshua and Elijah I crossed the Jordan River. I entered Jerusalem with David and was exiled with Zedekiah. And I did not forget it by the rivers of Babylon. When the Lord returned the captives of Zion I dreamed among the builders of its ramparts. I fought the Romans and was banished from Spain. I was bound to the stake in Mainz. I studied Torah in Yemen and lost my family in Kishinev. I was incinerated in Treblinka, rebelled in Warsaw, and emigrated to the Land of Israel, the country from where I have been exiled and where I have been born and from which I come and to which I return.

"I am a wandering Jew who follows in the footsteps of my forebearers. And just as I escort them there and now and then, so do my forebearers accompany me and stand with me here today.

"I am a wandering Jew with the cloak of memory around my shoulders and the staff of hope in my hand. I stand at the great crossroads in time, at the end of the twentieth century. I know whence I come and with hope and apprehension I attempt to find out where I am heading.

"We are all people of memory and prayer. We are people of words and hope. We have neither established empires nor built castles and palaces. We have only placed words on top of each other. We have fashioned ideas. We have built memorials. We have dreamed towers of yearning, of Jerusalem rebuilt, of Jerusalem united, of a peace that will swiftly and speedily establish us in our days. Amen."